Earth, Wind, Water and Fire
by WriterC
Summary: The interns and their lovers are going on a trip! A cave, an airplane, the ocean and a forest represent or have to do with the four elements. Love, danger, romance, angst, courage, disaster, and more! On permanent hiatus, sorry!
1. Chapter 1

So, new Grey´s story from me! I hope I´ll be able to keep this in-character. You tell me if it's worth the trouble to continue writing this! This chapter is an introduction. R&R!**

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**Earth, Wind, Water and Fire**

**1**

With a sigh the petite Meredith Grey closes her locker.

"Are you ready?" she asks Cristina Yang, level-headed Korean descent and ambitious doctor. The latter swings her bag over her shoulder.

"I'm going to miss out on surgery. A lot of surgeries. Vacations..." she mutters.

"I guess you _are_ ready," Meredith smiles at the retreating form of her best friend who has already begun to walk away, her dark curls dancing on her shoulders.

"You coming?" Cristina stops and turns around to see what is taking Meredith so long.

Together the young doctors walk out of the hospital heading for Joe's Emerald City Bar where they would meet with their friends for the last time before they all went on a well-deserved vacation.

"One tequila and..." the owner and bartender Joe greets Meredith and Cristina as they take a seat on the stools at the bar.

"Whatever," Cristina answers.

Joe puts their drinks on the bar and Cristina empties her glass in a few large gulps.

"Good," she says, "That's good."

The door is swung open and the other members of the Seattle Grace Hospital-'gang' enter.

"Good evening ladies," says the dark handsome cardio-thoracic surgeon Preston Burke. He bends down to kiss Cristina, his girlfriend, and places a warm hand on Meredith's shoulder.

"Hello to you," neurosurgeon Derek 'McDreamy' Shepherd with the perfect hair kisses his girlfriend Meredith on her forehead, "Are you excited yet?"

"I am," she smiles and her eyes sparkle as she holds his gaze for another moment.

"Hi," George O'Mally says as he, too, sits down and gratefully takes the beer Joe offers him.

"Hey George," the three girls replie in unison. The third being the blonde-haired, brown-eyed ex-model Isobel 'Izzie' Stevens who has walked in with her boyfriend Alex Karev a.k.a. former doctor Evil Spawn. He and Izzie proved that love and hatred are close. As much as they hated each other at the beginning of their internship, they merely left each other's side now. What's more, they are called by some: 'The conjoined ones'.

"So, doctor Burke, where are you and Cristina going?" George asks his favourite attending.

"We're going camping," Preston replies friendly in his low, warm voice, "How about you and Callie?"

"Oh we, we're going to this hotel in this town where it's really cold and snowy but where you can't actually ski," George explains with content.

"That's pathetic," Cristina replies, "At least Burke and I are going somewhere exciting. Where _we're_ going there will be no running water except in the streams, no toilets except in the ground, and no surgeries except at least a hundred miles away."

"Don't even try to pretend that you're happy with that," George answers but is ignored as Izzie cuts in.

"Like that's so impressive," she says mockingly. "Alex and I are going to survive under the same circumstances as you only we will be _hiking,_ not sitting on our asses in front of a tent all day."

Assuming that he is in every conversation Izzie's in Alex gives countenance to her statement: "A physical challenge we are happy to take on because our bodies are stong, and muscular, and dripping hot on top of that. Izzie and I are as tough as old boots. But what we're about to undertake is very dangerous..."

"Old stinking boots must be what you're referring to, doctor Evil Spawn," Cristina says dryly.

"Seriously, take a good look at the both of us because it might be the last one you'll ever get!" Izzie, always ready to defend her boyfriend, takes over from Alex.

"Well don't look at us because at least we're _positive_ we're coming back here," Cristina spits back triumphantly. Izzie is just about to say something back but is interrupted by the entering of doctor Callie Torres, George's girlfriend that outweighs her boyfriend by some pounds but is bright and beautiful nonetheless.

"Hey guys," she exclaims cheerily and sits down beside George and kisses him on the cheek.

"I'm glad you're here," George tells her, "They were about to start a fight about who's got the least chance to survive their vacation."

"Really? Why did they stop?"

"You interrupted them. Fortunately."

"Oh all right. So where are y'all going?" Callie informes.

"Derek and I are going to spend two weeks on a yaught together," Meredith answers with a smile.

"Together with two other men that is," Derek corrects her. "To keep us from sailing straight to China," he chuckles.

"You're ruining the idea," Meredith scoldingly as she contradicts her tone with a loving kiss on his cheek.

"Doesn't look like you're embarrassed being affectionate around other people," Cristina comments.

"No we aren't, are we?" Meredith replies simply as her gaze meets Derek's once again.

"So where are Izzie and Cristina going?" Callie reminds them of her question.

"Alex and I are going hiking," Izzie says.

"Burke and I are going to the woods and we, as opposed to the conjoined ones over there, are coming back," Cristina says in her usual sarcastic tone.

"You don't enjoy vacations?" Callie asks in a serious voice.

"Yes," Cristina answers staring at the wall, "Yes I do," she sighs.

"She's going to love it, just wait till we're back. She'll tell you she loved vacation," Preston says, smirking.

"I'm sure she will," George whispers more to himself than to the others.

"Anyway, George, did you tell your friends what we're going to do?"

"I did."

Callie swings her arm around George's shoulders.

"We are going to take some time for ourselves," she says and touches her head with George's.

The rest of the evening goes by smoothly. Smoothly as in the many drinks sliding down everyone's throats and the roars of laughter. They all leave early, at any rate earlier than usual, because they would drive off to their destinations the next morning. Joe watches his frequent customers hugging and kissing each other goodbye and is sure he's going to miss his favourite group of interns. Two full weeks... He hopes all the relationships would still be intact by the end of the vacation. There'd always been a lot of strong egos colliding. Oh well, they were bound to stick together eventually. Joe chuckles at the thought of the still so young interns and grabbes a tea-towell to clean his bar until it would mirror his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter two, chapter three will be up either tonight or tomorrow morning. R&R please!**

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**2**

**Earth**

Cristina and Preston have parked their car and visited the local restaurant for a last good meal. From now on they will be living on canned beans, canned corn, more canned food, pasta, pasta, and some more pasta. Being together, just the two of them, gives Cristina a better feeling than she'll ever admit to. It hasn't always been great having a boyfriend with such a strong personality as Preston, but secretly this makes her feel safe and secure. Not that she wouldn't be able to take care of herself, no, she'd be perfectly fine without him. It's just that eventually she decided having him around is good. She decided that she wanted to be with him. And everybody knows that if Cristina Yang has her mind set on something it's most likely to happen.

Preston Burke has a reputation of being arrogant. Genius, but arrogant. And he doesn't care to change that. He cares about his reputation, yes, but as long as it includes him being the best in his field he's content with it. His choice to let Cristina move in with him was not, even to his own surprise, based on his love for her, but on his interest in her. Cristina Yang is a very interesting person, one he'd like to get to know all about. She is probably the way he would have been had he been born a girl. When they were in surgery together they worked as a team. They were individualists but they worked well as a team. Their hands worked together, they didn't need any directions, they complemented each other. Love simply followed.

As Cristina and Preston mount the path up a hill they don't need to say a word. Simply enjoying the quiet and the smells of nature.

"Cristina!"

She turns around.

"What?"

Preston quickly catches up and drops his backpack on a rock.

"Are you tired?" Cristina asks him as if she can't believe that she even has grounds to suspect him.

"No, of course not," Preston is quick to reply. "I just... we need to drink some water. It's pretty hot out here and you don't want to get dehydrated."

"I know that," Cristina says in a slightly offended tone as she drops her backpack, too.

They sit down on a large rock in the shadow and take in their surroundings. Large trees, fir-cones sitting on soft moss, and a fresh blue sky.

"So," Preston says as he lowers his bottle of water and rests his elbows on his knees, "If you get the map out of your backpack I'll show you the rest of the route."

Cristina looks pointedly at him.

"I _know_ the route," she says in an icy voice.

"Oh, well, I thought that, maybe, you know," Preston tries to talk himself out of it.

"I never do anything unprepared," she lectures him.

"No. You don't. I'm sorry."

Cristina looks straight ahead.

"Good. Good."

"You still love me?" Preston asks in a serious voice.

"Yeah. Sure I do."

"Okay. Let's get going then."

Cristina and Preston put their bottles in their backpacks and continue down the path.

* * *

They arrive at their camping space hours later. Cristina drops her backpack and then herself in the grass but jumps up quickly when Preston asks her if she's tired. 

"Of course not."

Only fifteen minutes later their tent is up and Cristina spreads out the last sleeping-bag. Meanwhile, Preston has cooked their dinner: pasta. They eat in silence, feeling totally relaxed and secretly looking forward to crawling into their sleeping-bags.

Dishes being done and clothes being hung over some low tree-branches, Preston and Cristina put on their pyjamas and zip open their sleeping-bags.

"Wait," Cristina says just as Preston's finally comfortable.

"What? What is it?"

"We have to christen this tent," she adds and rolls on top of Preston and starts to kiss him.

He doesn't want to end their kiss, which is deep and passionate and a little unpatient, but he does after a few moments.

"Cristina... I'm tired," he admits.

She lifts her face.

"You're what?"

"I'm tired, Cristina. I don't have the energy for this now."

Cristina rolls off him and sighs meaningfully.

"You better be more fun tomorrow," she says and turns on her side so her back is towards him. Preston isn't at all affected by this and scoops closer to her so he can wrap his arms around her and lie spooned. He grins as he hears her breaths have already become regular.

**Wind **

"Okay... So this is our hotel, George."

"All right. It's all right. I'm feeling very positive about this."

George and Callie stand in front of their hotel checking out the building. It's painted white and has red window frames with bright-coloured flowers in front of them. On the whole it looks... very boring. Although neither George nor Callie is going to admit it.

"So, let's get inside. Check out our room."

"You think they have roomservice here?"

"No."

"Me neither."

Unfortunately, the interior of the hotel is pretty much the same style as the exterior. A broadly smiling elderly lady sits at the counter. She gives George and Callie the keys to their room. An awkward silence follows until Callie gets it.

"Oh! Okay, George let's go. We're supposed to get our own luggage up to our room."

The lady nods with a beaming face and points toward a staircase.

"Where... Could you perhaps tell us where we can find the elevator?" George asks politely.

"We don't have one," the lady answers without blinking.

George grudgingly takes over some of Callie's suitcases and starts mounting the stairs with Callie on his heels.

"Wow, that woman scares the hell out of me," Callie exclaims as they have finally reached and unlocked their room and dropped the suitcases on the bed. "That broad smile of hers, it gives me the creeps. It's like she looked in the mirror at midnight looking like that and her face has never had a different expression ever since. Or she just had surgery," Callie adds dryly and shrugs.

"Seriously. How much stuff do you need for two weeks, Callie? In two weeks you need less than in two _months_," George sighs. Callie grabs two of her suitcases and jerks them off the bed to unpack them.

"I'm a girl, George."

"I- I know, I just didn't think you were the girl that packs her entire wardrobe. But it's okay, it's fine," he quickly adds as Callie shoots him a scolding look.

* * *

"Nothing. There's nothing," Callie states desperately as she and George lie next to each other in the king-sized bed. "We don't even have loud and dirty neighbours." 

George stretches his arm out to her so Callie can lay on his arm.

"I guess we're just here to learn how to deal with not having anything to deal with at all," George says, being capable of finding the positive in every situation.

"Except non-existing cute guys carrying your bags to your room."

"Except those," George soothingly agrees. "And I'll be your cute guy."

Callie closes her eyes and listens to George's steady heartbeat, always a means to calm her down.

"You are my cute guy," she replies and George tenderly kisses the top of her head before they fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

And chapter three's up. It'll be three weeks before I'm able to update again because I'm going on vacation to Germany. Lilly, thanks for taking the time to leave me a wonderful review, as always! Here are the parts about the other two (these storylines are the most interesting, at least that's what I think). There's lots of angst to come after this... Enjoy!

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**3**

**Water**

Derek smoothly manoeuvres his car into a parking space and turns off the ignition. Meredith and he get out and walk towards the busy street across from the parking lot.

"Ah! There it is," Derek says as he spots the sign of a fish restaurant. They enter and look around. The sight of grey tendrils of smoke spiralling up to the ceiling and low voices conversing friendly greet Derek and Meredith.

She knows Derek hates smoke so she's not surprised to see the slightly annoyed look on his face. She doesn't like it either, although she must admit it creates a certain pleasant, 'drugging' atmosphere sometimes.

Just as they start to feel a bit uncomfortable standing there hand in hand two men rise from their chairs and wave for them to come over.

"So you must be mister Shepherd and miss Grey," the older man says as his playful eyes inspect the strangers standing before him. He wears a blue sweater and worn-out jeans and his hair is grey and sticks to his head. Meredith is the first to stick out her hand to him.

"Hello," she says as he firmly shakes her hand, "I'm Meredith Grey. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, miss Grey, very nice," the fisherman replies with a broad smile. "Now, may I please introduce you to my son, Jason. Where are you, Jason? Come say hello to our customers!"

The second man, the son, obviously, steps forward and shakes Meredith's hand, too. His hair's plain brown and he's dressed just like his father. He could look nice if he got another haircut and dressed a little more stylishly, Meredith observes.

"Hi, I'm Meredith."

"Jason. Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"You too, Jason," Meredith replies in her usual charming tone, "And please don't call me ma'am, I'm just a girl going on vacation with her boyfriend."

"And my name is Derek. Derek Shepherd," Derek is quick to cut in and offers his hand to Jason so he finally releases Meredith's. After he's shaken John's hand, the father's hand, they sit down and order some dinner.

* * *

"They seemed nice, didn't they?" Meredith asks as she pulls her top over her head. Derek, who's already in the bed, watches her and answers, "Nice enough. At least they seem to know a lot about fishing." 

Meredith has changed and gets into the bed.

"Yeah. Almost as much as you do, don't you doctor Fisherman?" she chuckles as she switches off the light on the nightstand beside her and rests her head on the pillow.

"Are you saying I don't know a lot about fising?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"Good! Okay then."

"So this is our last night in a normal bed in a hotel."

"So it is."

Meredith turns to face her boyfriend, who has become so much more than that over the last months. He softly wipes her hair out of her face and pulls her against his chest.

"Are you really excited over this? I mean, it is sort of my vacation this way. Going fishing and all."

"Yeah, I am excited. I love seeing you happy like a little boy," Meredith replies simply and closes her eyes as she buries her head in his chest.

"I love you, Meredith," Derek whispers in her ear.

"I love you too, doctor Fisherman," Meredith murmers before she falls asleep against Derek's strong chest. He caresses her face but is careful not to wake her while doing so. A darling she is, he thinks to himself, I hope she'll like my surprise.

**Fire **

"Watch out over there! Those rocks are pretty slippery." Alex turns around to watch Izzie step from rock to rock to cross the little stream they're passing.

"You got it?"

"I got it!" Izzie yells back and lands on the bank of the river safely.

"Okay, let's go then. Let's go!" Alex exclaims excitedly.

"I'm coming!" Izzie quickly runs up the slope to follow her boyfriend into the woods.

"This is fun. Hiking's fun," she states brightly as they walk side by side.

Alex smiles at her proudly.

"You know, you're my first girlfriend who actually likes it."

"Ah! One of the many, right?" Izzie challenges him.

"That's right," Alex replies, smirking, and receives a playful punch in his stomach.

"But you're the best I've ever had, honestly!" he says defensively as he doubles up excessively.

"Yeah right. Seriously?"

"Seriously. Best at everything. Trust me."

"Okay. I trust you."

They smile at each other and hold hands. It's not the most romantic situation to walk hand in hand in but it certainly feels as right.

The next obstacle they come across exists of a steep chasm with only a fallen tree to reach the other side.

"Oh, this is so cool!" Izzie exclaims as they reach it.

"Cool? You call this cool? That's pretty dangerous you know," Alex tries to talk some sense into Izzie but she's already climbed on top of the tree and stretches out her arms to both sides as if she were walking a tight rope.

"Don't worry, I've done gymnastics. I've got great balance," Izzie calls back to reassure him.

Indeed, only a minute or so later Izzie jumps off the tree onto the other side of the chasm and waves at Alex.

"Your turn!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, easy, Isobel Stevens," he says more to himself than to Izzie, who obviously can't hear him. Alex carefully climbs on the tree and starts walking. After a few steps, though, a blast of wind causes him to lose his balance for a second. Both Alex and Izzie almost suffer a heart-attack as he stumbles on the curved surface of the tree to regain his balance.

"Stretch out your arms! Stretch'em out! Your arms!" Izzie shouts at him. Alex is quick to obeye and reaches the other side of the chasm without further difficulties.

"You nearly got yourself killed," Izzie scolds him as she puts her hands on her hips.

"Naw, I was fine," Alex replies casually and kisses her as he wraps his arms around her waist. After a few moments Izzie pulls back to gasp for air.

"Let's go," she smirks and playfully licks her lips as she turns to continue their walk through the woods.

* * *

The sky has grown to dusk and Izzie and Alex arrive at a clearing in the woods that seems like a good place to put up their camp. 

Using their last supply of energy Alex puts up their tent and Izzie prepares dinner. A mere twenty minutes later they find themselves sitting on a log wearing warm sweaters and eating chili con carne.

"Actually tastes good," Alex compliments her.

"Thanks," Izzie smiles. She's always been excellent at baking but not until recently was she any good at cooking, "Doctor Burke taught me how to cook."

"Burke?" Alex repeats disbelievingly.

"Yes, he's a very good cook."

"I thought you were already great at cooking."

"No, I'm great at _baking_. Not cooking."

"Hm. Seems like now you're good at both," Alex replies as he takes another bite of his chili.

"I know," Izzie says simply as she tucks a piece of blond hair that escaped from her ponytail behind her ear.

They eat the rest of their dinner in silence. The physical challenges of today have exhausted the both of them.

"So," Alex says when they've cleaned up their dishes, "I can't wait to be in one sleeping bag with you," he playfully states with a naughty look in his eyes.

"Hm... Me neither," Izzie answers in the same tone.

"Yes! She wants to sleep with me!" Alex exclaims exaggeratingly happy. Izzie rolls her eyes.

"Who said anything about having sex? I'm exhausted!" she says teasingly.

"Oh, come on, Iz! I'm exhausted too but don't you think you can use that last bit of energy to have some fun?" Alex pleads.

Izzie averts her eyes and sighs in exasperation. Then she turns back to Alex and laughs at him.

"I was just messing with you, man! I could sleep with you every moment of the day."

Alex holds her tightly and cocks an eyebrow.

"Every moment of the day? Seriously?"

"Seriously," Izzie confirms and then bursts out in laughter as Alex sweeps her off her feet and throws her in the tent. She lands softly on the airbed and Alex lowers himself atop of her. Izzie eagerly grabs his head and kisses him deeply. Eagle owling nearby announces a passionate night but goes unnoticed by the young lovers.


	4. Chapter 4

And I'm back! Here's a chapter for you to enjoy, hopefully! Trouble starts here... R&R, please.**

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**4**

**Earth**

"We've been walking for hours," Cristina complains, "There's nothing exciting here."

"What? No surgeries?" Preston laughs, "You really don't know how to have a life outside the hospital, do you?"

"Oh! Like _you_ do!"

Preston glances at Cristina with a look of indignation.

"Sure I do."

Cristina grins.

"You do, do you?"

"Hell yes!"

Cristina shrugs as they continue down the path.

"Okay. Prove it."

"Prove it?"

"Yes! Prove it."

"How?"

"I don't know, be spontaneous. Do something unexpected."

Preston ponders this for a moment.

"All right. I'll take on that challenge."

That afternoon Preston and Cristina picnic under the trees. The green leafs protect them from the sunlight and birds provide them with cheery background music.

"I love you, Cristina," Preston suddenly exclaims and frees the plaid from their lunch to launch himself on top of Cristina and kiss her passionately. Their love is deep and they let themselves get lost in one another.

"Am I more fun today?" Preston asks, referring to Cristina's accusation of last night as they take a moment to catch their breath.

"Definitely," Cristina quickly replies and presses her lips against his. Soon after they have ridded each other from their clothes and the wind blows softly over their entangled bodies.

"So how's that for being spontaneous?" Preston asks when they have rolled off of each other and stare at the tree branches above them.

"You proved your point," Cristina answers dryly and rolls over to rest her head on Preston's chest. They lie like that and enjoy the warmth of the sun and the feel of the soft wind on their bodies until Cristina decides it's time to move on. They get dressed and pack their stuff in their backpacks before they continue.

"We shouldn't be far from our tent now," Preston says after awhile.

Suddenly Cristina stops.

"Are you all right?"

"Look!" Cristina points in the direction of a few trees.

"Where?"

"Follow me," is the simple answer Cristina gives him and runs through bushes and jumps over logs.

"Ha!" she says when she's stopped and bends forward to look at something a little closer.

"What is it?" Preston asks as he joins her.

"It looks like a cave!"

"A cave. No. It's probably just some animal's hole."

"Yeah, well, I want to go inside. My spontaneity beats yours," she says triumphantly and steps inside.

"You're very competitive, Cristina. Even outside the hospital," Preston calls after her as he steps inside the cave, too.

"Wow, look at this place!" Cristina ignores his question and gets a flashlight out of her backpack as she continues further inside the cave. Preston follows her closely.

"Ouch!" he exclaims when they've taken a couple of turns and are not able to see the daylight anymore.

"You okay?" Cristina is still walking ahead of him. Preston feels his head with his fingertips.

"I think so, but I cut my head on a rock. You got the first-aid kit with you?"

"Yeah," Cristina answers as she walks back to him and shrugs off the backpack.

"Crap, Preston," she says as she has him sit down and examines the wound using a flashlight to see better, "it's pretty deep."

"Does it need stitches?"

"I think so...," Cristina looks at his skin more closely, "Yeah. Yes. Definitely. About five."

She bends down to retrieve gauze and presses it against Preston's cut.

"Let's get out of here first," she says as she puts the first-aid kit in her backpack.

"All right. Which way?"

"That way."

"You sure?"

"I'm always sure. Let's go."

**Wind**

After a night so peaceful that it is only appropriate to sleep like a rose George is rudely awoken by his girlfriend.

"George! George, wake up," she pokes him in the shoulder.

"What? What?" George gives in and frowns.

"I had a nightmare," Callie starts to explain her actions, "A horrible, horrible nightmare."

George sits upstraight and looks at her confusedly.

"About what?" he asks as he blinks his eyes a few times to get them to open.

"I'm telling you, it was dreadful. You remember that lady behind the desk downstairs?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, she was following me. She was hunting me down with that terrifying grin of hers. I ran for miles through the most horrible places. Fields of fresh, green grass and flowers and smiling people and clouds and rainbows and..."

"So, if that's horrible to you, what do you usually dream about?"

"That's none of your business."

"I was just asking-"

"No. I've just snapped out of it. Thanks." Callie gets out of the bed and fumbles through her luggage to find some clothes.

"How did you sleep, by the way?"

"Well. I slept well. Very well," George says as he nods his head in agreement with himself.

* * *

He watches one of the small planes and feels anger well up inside of him.

"Skydiving? Of all the other things in the world we could do, we go skydiving?"

"Why, it's the only thing to do around here," Callie replies apologetically.

"I hate vacations," George mutters and strolls off to the building.

Callie follows on his heels and tries to reassure him and convince him it'll be fun, but George seems adamant although he doesn't run back to the car.

A half an hour later they're fully equipped and meet the pilot. He seems to be in his sixties and shakes their hands firmly. He introduces himself as 'Pete'.

"So... so who will be jumping with me? I've never done this before," George inquires curiously.

Callie clears her throat.

"Uhm, George..."

"Yeah?"

"You will be skydiving with me."

An awkward silence follows her announcement.

"Oh."

"You okay with that? It's not my first jump!" Callie quickly adds noticing his apprehension.

"No... I guess that's okay. Yeah. Yeah, that's fine I mean, you've done this before, right? Many times."

Callie's eyes brighten up.

"Yes! I have. Great, George. I promise you it'll be fun," she says happily as she flings an arm around his shoulder and presses him against her.

* * *

Pete stretches his neck and rubs it with his right hand.

"Probably been sleeping in the wrong position," he explains.

"Are you sure you're all right?" George asks with concern.

"George, relax. People fly planes all the time," Callie reassures him.

"I know," he answers as casually as he can.

"There's a better chance of winning the lottery than your plane crashing."

"I said I'm not scared!"

"I know," Callie replies, imitating his voice.

They resume their flight in silence as George and Callie look down on the world.

Suddenly the plane tilts to the left and George is so shocked that he feels he's having a heart-attack.

"Sorry, guys," Pete apologizes. "It's weird. My left arm became really heavy all the sudden." He shakes his head in confusion. "And my neck is killing me. But don't worry, I've got everything under control!"

George exchanges a meaningful look with Callie.

"Uhm, Pete, listen," Callie says and the nerves are present in her voice. "You wouldn't happen to have any chest pains as well, would you?"

George shoots her a terrified look. Callie awaits Pete's answer with anxiety.

"Funny you should mention that-" Pete starts to say but before he is able to finish his sentence he brings his right hand to his chest and moans in pain.

"Oh my god, he's having a-"

"Heart-attack!" George exclaims and unbuckles his seatbelt to crawl to the front of the plane.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

**Water**

The wind plays with Meredith's ponytail and is soft compared to last night, when Meredith woke up feeling sick and had found the boat heaving on the outraged waves. The sound of her throwing up had startled Derek from his sleep and he'd held her hair out of her face until her stomach had been emptied. After that, he'd taken his miserable Meredith to bed and had held her in his arms for the rest of the night.

Today she feels better and is wearing the green sweater Derek got her before he told her about their vacation. Derek's arms are protectively wrapped around her small shoulders and he's determined to make this day as much fun for her as he can because he feels guilty about the miserable night she had. After all, this was his idea.

John and Jason come up behind them and say good morning.

"I sure hope the lady isn't afraid of sharks," John says, smirking.

"Oh no, I'm not scared as long as they're in the water and I'm in the boat," Meredith answers casually.

"They're pretty mean fish and we're sailing through their territory right now, you know," adds Jason.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you're actually trying to scare me," Meredith replies, maintaining her casual tone.

John and Jason smirk at her and Derek feels he needs to say something. Obviously Meredith's had a rough night and she usually wasn't in a joking mood after that.

"John, Jason, we were wondering when we could have our first breakfast on your wonderful boat," Derek cuts in.

John signs for them to follow him and walks back to the stairs.

"Follow us," Jason says and follows his father, "You can have breakfast together while we're getting the poles ready".

Derek presses a kiss against Meredith's head and she lovingly rests her head against his chest.

Meredith's polite smile has dropped awhile ago and on the other side of the table John and Jason are cracking up over their own jokes. Actually, they have been making fun of Meredith all morning. First about the sharks, then about her seasickness and if they could get her a nice fat fish, followed by how many beauty products they thought she's taken with her and that they ought to clean their own sheets if they wanted to have sex. It is obvious that not many women have stayed on their boa yett: these men seem not to be used to having human beings with breasts and oestrogen around.

Derek softly squeezes Meredith's hand under the table to give her some support. He knows she's trying not to let them get to her but he also knows that she's been doing that all morning and afternoon and knowing Meredith, she'll probably break at some point and tell them to go to hell. Derek would talk to them that evening when Meredith is taking a shower. The way they behaved that afternoon is not acceptable. First they laughed at Meredith when she was fumbling with the line, then Jason finally decided to give her a hand but it was obvious that he tried to get his hand somewhere else. Meredith uncomfortably tried to push him away but it wasn't until Derek shouted at him to knock it off that Jason made himself scarce.

"So, I've had enough. Excuse me, please. I feel like going to bed early tonight. Enjoy the rest of your dinner," Meredith says with held-in anger as she gets up and puts her napkin on the table beside her empty plate.

Derek quickly wipes his mouth and gets up, too.

"I'll come with you," he says to Meredith, "John, Jason, we'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night!"

"Sleep tight!" the men called after them and roared with laughter.

* * *

"No, Derek, really, it's okay. I understand why they're behaving the way they do. They're just not used to women and they don't know how far they can go. I think that's clear now. Tomorrow will be fun," Meredith rubs soothing circles across Derek's back. After Jason left her alone she really had a good time but Jason's rudeness seems to have kept bothering Derek. Meredith doesn't want their vacation ruined over small things. Derek deserves to relax, he's earned it well.

"I know, but I just hate it when... I know. Never mind, tomorrow will be great fun."

_Especially when I tell her about my surprise_... Derek lifts himself onto his feet and opens the door.

"I'm going to have a little chat with them nonetheless," he says and disappears. Meredith sighs. He's the sweetest, most caring, loving, gorgeous man she's ever met. How did he happen to love her back? How did that happen? She is probably blessed. Yes, that is what it must be, Meredith says to herself and gets up to gather her 'shower-equipment', as Izzie calls it, consisting of far less beauty products than the Js believed.

* * *

"Why, look at that! Half-naked women emerging from my own humble bathroom and it's not even my birthday!"

Meredith gasps and sharply turns, clutching her bath towell that is wrapped tightly around her body. She looks straight into the smirking face of Jason.

"Will you cut it out?" Meredith spits angry. "I'm trying here! I'm trying with my boyfriend to have a fun vacation and all you can do is pushing the line seeing how far you can go. The line is drawn! I can't help it that you haven't had a woman around since you got out of your cave and onto this freaking boat! So stop undressing me with your eyes. Stop talking to me in that contemptuous way. Stop harassing me!"

Meredith grabs her bag containing her clothes and shower-equipment and marches to her cabin door, leaving a still broadly grinning Jason leaning against the wall.

**Fire**

"Iz…," Alex murmers without opening his eyes, "Izzie...? Do you... do you smell... smoke? Smoke!" Alex gasps and sits upstraight and frantically glances around in the tent. Then he struggles out of their sleeping bag, accidentally stepping on Izzie's arm on his way out.

"Ouch!" she cries, "What the hell are you doing, Alex?"

But Alex is already outside. Izzie sighs in exasperation and trades the comfortable warmth of the sleeping bag for the cold of the night. She shivers as she stops next to Alex and folds her arms in front of her chest in an attempt to keep herself warm.

"What is it?" she asks softly as Alex glances intently at a spot between the trees.

"Iz, we have to get out of here," he says in a low voice.

"But wha-"

"Izzie there's a fire somewhere! Don't you smell it? Look at the leaves, they're curling upwards," Alex whispers with held-in nervousness.

Izzie now smells the smoke, too.

"Alex," she says as she pulls his arm, "Let's go put on something warm and call 911. Then let's get out of here."

"Our cell phones don't work out here. We'll have to get to the nearest village and use a phone there," Alex answers and follows Izzie to their tent.

* * *

"The smoke is getting thicker," Izzie says, "Shouldn't we go back? I mean, aren't we supposed to get away from the fire instead of walking right into it?"

Alex stops and glances around. It's hard to see a great distance through the smoke.

"No. We're heading the right way," he says stubbornly and continues down the path.

"I sure hope you're certain. This is definitely not the right time for macho-behaviour," Izzie mumbles as she catches up with him.

"Let me know if you're more certain it's the other way," Alex retorted.

"Hush, hush, don't get angry with me, blame the fire."

And Alex and Izzie resume their stride through the woods, unbeknownst to what danger lies ahead of them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Earth**

"Cristina?" Preston addresses her hesitantly.

"Yes?" As she continues, shining the beam of light ahead of them.

"Shouldn't we have been back by now?"

"No."

"Are you lost, Cristina?" he can't help himself and smirks. That would have been quite dangerous if she wasn't walking ahead of him unable to catch him.

"Maybe."

"Don't you think it wise if we come up with a plan, then?"

"Perhaps."

"Cristina, stop for a moment."

She obeyes and shines the flashlight between them so as to illuminate both their faces.

"What? We're not going to get out by just standing here so we might as well just walk." She brushes past him and continues.

"So much for being spontaneous," Preston mutters, then calls after her, "You got us in here you get us out!"

"That's so immature," she calls back.

"What if we don't find a way out? There could be things down here you don't even want to know about."

"You watch too much tv. And what if I _do_ get us out?"

"I'll by you an ice cream."

"More likely I get in on major surgery."

Preston shakes his head desperately yet he smiles. He _loves_ this woman.

* * *

An hour later they're still lost in the underground cave. Preston follows his girlfriend and from time to time holds the gauze to his wound with his other hand. Cristina seems determined she's going to find a way out but some negative thoughts are seeping into her mind. Until she hears rustling and stops to listen. 

"Why are we stopping?"

"Sh!"

After a moment Cristina continues without giving him any explanation.

"Cristina-" he tries exasperatedly.

"I heard water. Your head okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good."

The sound of running water gets nearer, or rather they are approaching, and eventually the light of Cristina's flashlight is reflected by the liquid.

"Aha. That's what I thought. Now all we have to do is follow the stream upwards and there's a good chance we'll be able to get out of here."

"Do you know everything all the sudden?"

"_Everything?_ What do you think? I'm just always super well-prepared for everything, thank you."

* * *

**Wind **

After coming to the horrible realisation that they're up in the air and the pilot is having a heart-attack, George and Callie quickly unbuckle their seatbelts and rush to the front of the small plane, Callie grabbing the control column and George tending to Pete.

"George? I- I'm not sure how to fly this thing," Callie admits anxiously.

"Do you think you can cope for 600 seconds?" George asks as he rips Pete's shirt off his chest and applies CPR, the thought that they might crash not even crossing his mind, although this is all Callie can think about.

"I- I'll try to keep it level," she says in a shaky voice, then, "600 seconds?"

"If defribillation is delayed for more than ten minutes, survival rates drop to virtually zero," George answers as he glances at his watch, then continues compressions, then pinches Pete's nose and tilts back his head, breathing two times in his mouth.

"I see," says Callie. "I don't know about you but I don't carry a defibrillator around. I can't land this plane so we can call an ambulance. I'm freaking out, George!"

As George continues CPR, he glances around the plane, searching for the first aid equipment.

"Callie!" he exclaims suddenly.

"What? What George?" she calls back, panicked, making sure they're not crashing.

"Look next to you, there's first aid equipment."

"That's not going to help now, George," Callie assures him.

"See if there's a portable defibrillator. It's a red box and has a heart on it."

Callie starts fumbling frantically and tries to keep focused on keeping the plane level at the same time.

"Er, like th-this?" she inquires as she holds up the box.

"Yes!" bellows George. "Throw it towards me, Callie."

She does and George catches it, then quickly clicks it open and gets the adhesive pads out, a voice giving him instructions.

"Analyzing heart rythm... Stay clear of patient."

A pause.

"Shock advised. Stay clear of patient. Press the flashing orange button now. Deliver shock now. Shock delivered."

"I think we have him back!" George exclaims relieved.

"Thank God," Callie sighs. "You are amazing, you know that?"

George shrugs. "You aren't so bad yourself, flying a plane."

"Yeah it's not that difficult. But ehm, what if we, you know, want to land? How do I do that?"

The gravity of the situation finally sinks in and George frowns with concern. Suddenly saving a life seems benign. If they crash they'll all die anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm sorry this took so long, but I think this chapter will make up for (part of) the wait. As always, I'm curious to know what you think, any criticism is also valued. Thanks for the reviews of the last chapter, they keep me writing. Please R&R if you want me to update!**

* * *

**

**7**

**Water**

Meredith has told Derek nothing about the incident of the previous night. The last thing she wants is for him to get tense and agitated, let alone angry.

Boatmen suck.

She's in their cabin, stretching time before they have to have breakfast with the Js.

"Mer, are you coming?" Derek's head pops around the corner.

"I'll be right there," she says, smiling a small smile.

"Okay, well, see you in a bit, then." And his head disappears.

All right, let's do this, Meredith thinks and reluctantly leaves the cabin.

Entering the kitchen, she finds herself surprised by the sight in front of her. On top of her plate sits a dive mask and the Js smile sheepishly at her.

"Good morning, miss Grey," they say in unison and Meredith cocks her eyebrows in surprise.

"Good morning," she mumbles and sits next to Derek, who is grinning broadly.

"Uhm, what is this doing on my plate?" she asks suspiciously and sways the dive mask in front of his face.

"It's a surprise," Derek explains happily. "My surprise. For you. We're diving today, like you said you wanted to some day."

"Oh, Derek!" Meredith exclaims and flings her arms around his neck. "That's great, thank you," she whispers in his hair.

He pats her back softly.

"You're welcome," he says and kisses her forehead.

Jason gives a grunt but neither Meredith nor Derek can be bothered by it. They're going to dive!

* * *

It's a bright day and the water is calm. John and Derek are waiting on deck for Meredith to emerge from the cabin. 

"Mer? Everything all right in there?"

"Kind of."

"You need a hand?"

"Quite literally, yes. Will you come in?"

Derek finds his girlfriend inside, struggling to get into the tight diving suit, her back towards him.

"You look hot!" Derek eyes her appreciatively.

"Don't even think about it. I'm not getting out of this suit until I've seen at least a hundred fish. The closest thing to sex you're getting is to zip me up. Geez, who picked this size?" Meredith feels as though she's being crushed from all sides. Derek zips her up and finally she notices how _he_ looks.

"Can you breathe in this thing? 'Cause I can't," she decides to ignore his blunt handsomeness and takes a few deep breaths to demonstrate her point.

"It will get better in the water," Derek assures her. "Come on, and stop looking at my ass as if I only have brains to keep my ears apart. There's more to me than just good looks," he teases.

"Hm, _very_ good looks," Meredith whispers in his ear and follows him outside.

John is already in his diving suit and wants to get into the water as soon as possible.

In the water is where they find themselves ten minutes later. Jason has offered to stay on the boat and Meredith in particular doesn't mind this at all. Swimming in-between the figures of John and Derek, she watches the lively under-water creatures pass her rapidly. She's having the time of her life and wishes she could spend one third of her life in the OR, another in bed with Derek and the last peacefully floating around here.

After a while the small group resurfaces and notice they're almost half a mile away from the boat.

"Wow, that was-" Meredith starts to say, but the sound of an explosion interrupts her. All heads turn sharply towards the sound and then their eyes fill with terror.

As it seems, the explosion came from… their own boat. What used to be their boat at least, for now all that is left is an angry dark cloud of smoke and pieces of wreckage being blown into the air, colliding with the water surface before disappearing into the ocean probably forever.

"JASON!" John screams and starts in the direction of the wreckage.

"John, wait!" Derek grabs the poor man's arm and tries to get him to calm down.

"My son! I have to go to my son!" John struggles, his voice laced with horror and concern.

"If Jason was still on that boat there will be nothing left of him now," Derek tells him harshly. The cold stab of reality hits John finally and he stops fighting Derek's grip, instead throws off his diving mask and cries out, making Meredith's eyes tear up at the defeat and grief in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she says in a small voice. This is all so surreal; one moment they were having fun and the next… a young man is dead. And their boat destroyed.

"The boat…" Meredith whispers suddenly, a shocked expression on her face and tugs at Derek's arm. "Derek! The boat!" she repeats and watches his expression match hers.

"Oh God," he utters hopelessly.

"I told him not to mess down there. H-he must have a-accidentally b-blown up the boat… himself…" John cries. "I told him to RTFM God damnit!"

Meredith places a comforting hand on the broken man's shoulder.

"RTFM, John?"

"Read The Fucking Manual," he sniffs.

"I'm so sorry." And she really is.

"We ehm, I think we should swim back to- swim back there and see if there's anything to sign with so we can get out of here," Derek suggests carefully.

John nods his head and bitterly wipes away his tears.

"Yeah, that's probably the best thing to do. I don't- don't suppose there'll be anything left of- of my son, right?"

"No. I think that's very unlikely," Derek answers in earnest and pats John on his back to show his sympathy. "I admire your strength, John."

* * *

To their horror, they have not found anything useful between the wreckage except part of a door to hold onto and the safety jackets, so there's nothing they can do. But wait. And they have been waiting for a good three hours, in silence, letting the gravity of their situation sink in and terrify them. 

Meredith and Derek are on opposite sides of the door and their fingers are entangled in the centre of it. John is a few yards away, needing some time alone to grief.

"Derek."

His head tilts upwards to meet her gaze.

"You all right?"

"We've got to do something. Anything. Nobody's going to come down here and rescue us. We have to find land; we can't stay in the water like this forever."

"You're right."

"Should I ask John?"

"I'll do it," Derek offers and gently releases Meredith's hand before he lowers himself into the water and starts swimming towards John. Meredith watches with concern as the men talk for what seems like hours. Suddenly she starts to take notice of the sun's burning beams on her skin and tries to create a shadow over her eyes. Then she licks her chapped lips, which are dry and taste salty.

In her mind she's willing Derek to please hurry up. The less time they spend in the water the better. Pushing her knowledge of the affect of salt on their skin to the back of her mind, she focuses on the conversation again, unable to eavesdrop in on it.

Finally Derek turns around and approaches her.

"And?" Meredith asks with anticipation as he's come within earshot.

She feels a stone on her stomach when Derek shakes his head sadly.

"The only land John knows of is in that direction," he points it out to her, "And that's shark territory."

"So?"

"Meredith!"

"It's the only chance we have right now, Derek."

"I hate it when you're right in this kind of situation."

"Yeah, well, me too, but I still prefer being eaten by sharks over dying from thirst and having my skin fall off because of the water."

"Like I said, I hate it when you're right."

* * *

**Fire**

"No, Alex. No! You're going the wrong way," Izzie screams at him as she stands still in a desperate attempt to make him turn around.

It works.

"Iz! Get back here!" Alex yells back.

"_You_ get back here!"

"Izzie, come on!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Look behind you, there's smoke!"

Alex does as she says.

"Idiot," Izzie mutters under her breath.

A few yards away Alex is confused. Sure, smoke is coming from behind him, but it seems to be coming from all directions. He thought he was sure…

"Chicks," he mutters and quickly closes the space between them.

"You're so damn stubborn," they tell each other in unison and perhaps they would have smiled if it isn't for the herd of deer galloping frantically towards and past them.

"Let's go," Alex grabs Izzie's hand and pulls her in the direction where the animals are going. They run and jump over obstacles, breathing hard, until Izzie glances over her shoulder and her eyes grow big with terror.

"Alex?"

"What?" He sounds more irritable than he is, but hey, running from a fire doesn't exactly improve his mood.

"Just… don't look back," Izzie advises him.

"Okay," Alex replies, but glances over his shoulder anyway.

"Holy-" The flames are well within their sight now, chasing them like preys.

"Jesus Alex, I told you not to look back!"

Their hands have gotten sweaty and when Alex unexpectedly speeds up he loses his grip on Izzie's hand.

"Izzie!" he calls as he slows down. "Where are you?" as he frantically glances around.

The flames keep crawling closer, licking branches and leaves and illuminating the world around them.

"Iz!" He starts to walk back. _Why isn't she answering?_ "Iz!"

Then he sees her. He finds her face-down on the earth, motionless.

"Fuck." He rolls her over, but her foot is stuck under a root. The heat of the fire has already reached them.

Trying hard to focus but working fast at the same time, Alex twists her foot loose and then hurries to tend to her vital functions. The sight of his girl hurt is almost unbearable and he silently wills her to wake up.

He turns her on her back and brushes the hair from her face and neck. He finds a reassuring pulse and hears breathing sounds as he feels her hot breath on his skin.

"Thanks," he lets his breath escape, relieved like never before. "Thank you, Izzie."

She must have tripped and hit her head hard, he analyses as the heat increases.

_Oh hell._

The flames have come too close, yet Alex gathers Izzie's small form in his arms and carries her away from the fire until he can't take another step. Mercilessly, the fire rolls forward, towards them.

No way he'll be able to get the both of them out of there fast enough.

_Make a choice. Make a choice, Alex._ _What do you do now? _


End file.
